Elevator



April 2, 1940. R. B. GLIDDEN rra-r AL ELEVATOR Filed Feb. 3, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z Z a J f .r. /QJ d .13 3 I; f M d@ ,J L@ 1.. ,L flor/u E0/@f5 z Madden, BY Afa/6072 z/m-MATTORNEY.

Apr'l 2, 1940. R. B. GLIDDEN Er Al.

ELEVATOR Filed Feb. 3, 1939 2 SheetS-Sheell 2 Patented Apr. 2, l1940 Au1-nrenjfisuras PATENT 1 oI-Fice ELEvA'roR y l Raymond Glidden, Robert L. Glidden, and Nels Nelson, Kewanee, Ill.,

assignors to Kewanee Machinery & Conveyor Co., Kewanee, Ill., a

` corporatitmv ,of Illinois yApplication February 3, 1939,v Serial No. 254,476

. v 8 Claims.

The present invention'relates to elevators and analogous or comparable structures, and con- 301 accompanying drawings, throughout the several cerne more particularly, but not 'necessarily restrictedly, that type of elevators for. installation in granaries, corn-cribs, or storage-houses for the purpose of elevating corn, either on the ear or shelled, oats, wheat, beans or other grains or feeds from an unloading floor or driveway to a higher point where such, materialis discharged into a swiveling delivery-spout on the elevatorhead and thence conveyed by gravity to bins,v cribs, or other points as desired.

A leading objectandk purpose of the invention v.is to provide a structure of the specied character which is 'simple inl construction, which is `comparatively economical to manufacture, which is efficient-in the performance of its functions,

`which isv unlikely to become damaged or injured views of which, for simplicity, like reference numerals'have been employedto designate the same y parts.'y f

, In these drawings: i Figure, 1 is a side view ofk theY elevator while itis inoperative condition;

Figure 2 is a similar view with the elevator in folded or inoperative condition; l

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section on line 3-3 of Figure' 1, on an enlarged scale; x

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-section on line 4--4 of Figure 1, also on aV larger scale; Figure 5 is a cross-section showing the driveshaft for the cross-conveyor; l

'Figure 6 is a horizontal section cross-conveyor'take-up shaft, and

Figure 7 is aJhorizontal-'section through the upright conveyor on line l-l 'of Figurefl.

Referring tov these drawings, it will be perceived that the novel and improved elevator includesV an upright conveyor or elevator having a metal framework Il and a sheet-metal casing or housing |2-v with internal,--vertical guideways I3, ll3-and; I4, I4 for theascending;` and descend-.-

showing the (ol. 19e- 87) l ling lengthsof a pair of chains I6, lequi ped `with suitable buckets Il, l1, such chains .at the bottom of the structure; passing around the usual, power-driven sprocket-'wheels I8 onashaft'l, the upper end of such elevator having, adischarge or delivery head. and spout, notv shown, but which may be oi the usual andcommon form. j

The portion 2l of the frame and casing accommodating such shaft and sprocket-wheels is known in thetrade as the boot or foot section'. Just above such boot, the frame-at its two -`lsides, has forward extensions 22 having'- bearings for ashaft 23l driven from shaft I9 by means of external sprocket-wheels 24 and 25 and their companion sprocket-chain 2G.

The lower frontportion of the upright casing has an opening tted with a cover-sheet 2l having side-walls 28 with marginal, outstanding flanges 2S, such side-walls externally overlapping the side-walls of the main casing, as shown.

Such cover-sheet aty its upper'end is loosely hinged to both sides of the casing or housing by means of headed,'outstanding pins 3l on the casing occupying upright l' slots 32 in the sidewalls 28, whereby such cover-sheet may-be rocked inwardly and outwardly and may be shifted bodily upwardly and downwardly in minor degree;

In order to maintain such cover-sheet in either vone of two fixed positions, eac-h outer face of the lower portion of the casing has a block 33v xed thereto and having a notch 34 in its upper edge, such edge beingalso bevelled downwardly rearwardly at 35, whereby the lower end4 of the corresponding marginal flange 29 of the coversheet may occupy such notch to hold the coversheet in the extended position shown in Figure 1 or may bear on the part 35 to maintainv the cover- `sheet close againstthe casing, as presented in Figure 2. I

As will be noticed,the cover-sheet 2l' terminates shortof its side-walls 2B, 28 leavingan opening or port below it, the lower edge of sheet'l vhaving slots 36, 3S for a purpose hereinafter ining bucketsl of the'series comprises two parts, 'I

wardly inclined so that no part o i' the boot and its mechanism need be below the lloorlevel;

Such cross-conveyorsectlon dzincludes alparf of spaced-apart, sheet-metal side-walls 43, 43 (Figures 1 and 4) each with a bottom, inwardlydirected flange 44, such members being hinged at their'inner ends onshaft 23, thereby allowing the upward swinging of the conveyor-member 42 around such shaft to swing it into inoperative vertical position as shown in Figure 2.

Each side-wall 43 has hinged thereto at 45, 45 an upper inwardly-foldable section 45 having a narrow top marginal flange 41, the slots 36, 36 accommodating the top portions of the parts 46, 46 when the elements are in the operative positions shown in Figure 1, thus precluding the inl Ward swinging of the members 46, 45 as long as the cover-sheet occupies the ative relation.

In addition, the conveyor-member 42 has a depicted, coopermetal-sheet 48 joining together the two side-walls' The outer end of conveyor-member 42 has a through-bolt 5| which hinges sections 42 and 43y 51 having top marginal flanges 59 and 6 i, respectively. n

The adjacent ends of the rockable walls 46, 46 have flanges G2, 62 which overlap the ends of the parts 51, 51.

Side plates53, 53 are connected together by a plate 64 as shown in Figure 3 and near their outer ends, they support an adjustable take-up rshaft 65 on which two rotatable rollers 95, 5G are mounted (Figures 1 and 6).

A pair of endless sprocket-chains 51, B1, equipped with spaced-apart flights t9, 6B, extend around, and are driven by, af pair of sprocketwheels 69, 69 (Figure 5) on shaft 23 and also pass around the two rollers 66, 6&3l (Figure 6) on shaft 65, the lower stretches of such chains riding on the flanges 44 and 54, while the upper stretches of the chains travel on the plates 48 and' G4 and convey the material there along for delivery into the upright conveyor.

The lower stretches of these two drag-chains 61, 61 pass up over and are held up by guides 1|,

thus preventing their coniiict with a flexible rubber grain-guard 12 bolted to the hopper i3.

The upper stretches of such pair of chains in order to achieve the proper change of direction as the chains leave the conveyor-section 4| and enter the correlated conveyor-section 42 pass under an appropriate guide i6 and then on to their driving sprocket-wheels.

At its extreme end, cross-conveyor section 4| has a bail 14 hinged on each side of it at 15, such bail, by means of a cord or cable 'i6 and a sheave 11 on the upstanding conveyor-casing over which the cablefor cord passes, being connected to a counter-weight 18 which greatly facilitates the upward foldingl of the cross-conveyor when desired to get it out ofthe way.

Both sides of the cross-conveyor being alike, the lower end of each such bail-leg is hingedly connected at 19 to a bar 8| hinged at its other end at 82 to the leg-member 52', and, in addition, each such bar 8| by means of links 83, 83 is hinged to thev lowerIends of Va pair of brackets 84, 84

hinged to the side-plate 53 at 85, 85 these brackets when in upright position, as shown in Figure 1, holding the sloping side-walls 56, 56 in position and against outward swinging.,

Bail 14 at eachside has a curved tongue or wing 86 to assist in bringing the side-wall sections 56, 56 up to operative positions from their rocked or lower inoperative positions.

The elevator isA operated substantially as follows, assuming that shaft I9 is being rotated by any suitable source of power, such as an electricy motor, and that the two sets of conveyors, cross and erect, are in action,

The grain, such as-` ears of corn, dumped into the outer-section 4| of the cross-conveyor, as from a truck, is'pushed along by the conveyorflights into and'up` through the inner-section42 into the hopper 13 through the opening in the cover-plate 21, and from the hopper the ears of corn fall into the buckets which carry them up and discharge them from the upper portion (not shown) of the elevator.

Assuming now, that the elevator'is to go outof service, at least temporarily, the cross-conveyor would ordinarily be in the Way, and it is desirable to move it into inoperative or unserviceable position or conditionleaving the oor space which it would otherwise occupy free for other uses.

To accomplish this end, the cover 21, 28, 29 is lifted slightly to release the lower ends of its sidewall anges 29, 29 from the retainingy notches 34 and to free the movable side-wa1ls46, 46 from the notches or slots in the cover-sheet 2, and then the cover is swunginwardly until it engages thefolded down inwardly on top of one another and' then the whole cross-conveyor is manually swung up turning around shaft 23 on which its inner end is hung. v

During such upward rocking, the bail swings away from the end of the cross-conveyor, thereby removing the tongues vor wings 66, 86 from the path of opening turning of the side-walls 56, 56, and, due to the indicated operative connections between such bail and the brackets 84, 84, they too are swung into inoperative positions'with the results that the two hinged side-walls swing down ultimately to lieflat against the iront of the uprightcasing l2.

Also, during such upward travel of the parts, the two sections 4| and 42 of the cross-conveyor swing into alignment or register with one another, so that in its inoperative condition, the crossconveyor and its parts occupy the position and relation clearly indicated in Figure l2, and they are releasably retained in this condition by the action of the counterweight 18.

When it is desired to restore the elevator to normal operative or functioning condition, the cross-conveyor is pulled down against .the restraining action of the counterweight, and, when it reaches the floor all parts of the outer section 4i will have automatically assumed their operative condition, whereupon the sides 46, 46 are manually rocked up to vertical position in which relation they will be maintained when the coversheet is raised, swung outwardly, and then lowered into notches 34 by which time the slots in plate 21 will have received the upper portion of plates 46, 46 ready to hold them in such operative position. n

The invention, as described above, has been set forth and dened in theappended claims and with the upper longitudinal portions thereof nor\r mally outwardly flaring and hinged to the re-v the structure, herein described by way of example only, is subject to major and minor modifications without departure from the fundamental yprinciples of the invention and without the loss or sacrifice of any of its material benefits and substantial advantages. 1

We claim:

1'. In an elevator, the combination of an upright-conveyor including a travelling-conveyor structure, a cross-conveyor including a travelling `conveyor structure adapted to receive material and to deliver it to the lower part of said uprightconveyor, said cross-conveyor including in conibination a normally-inclined inner-section hinged to said upright-conveyor and an outer-section hinged to, and normally more nearly horizontal than, said inner-section, means to operate said conveyor structures, and means tending to counterbalance said cross-conveyor, whereby said cross-conveyor may be swung up into inoperative position to said uprightconveyor with said inner and outer sections of said cross-conveyorsubstantially in alignment.

2. The elevator presented in claim 1 in which said upright-conveyor includes a casing having a front normally outwardly-sloping manuallyshiftable portion'which, when moved from-its normal position, permits said upward swinging of said-cross-conveyor to said aligned inoperative condition of its sections against the front of'said casing.

3. The elevator presented in claim 1in which said upright-conveyor includes a casing having a front normally outwardly-sloping manuallyshiftable portion loosely hinged to the remainder of the" casingxand which, when moved from its normal position, permits said upright swinging of said cross-conveyor to said aligned inoper-v ative condition of its sections against the front of said casing.

4. The'elevator presented in 4claim 1 in which one of said cross-conveyor sections includes casing side-walls longitudinal portions of which are hinged to the vremainder thereofl allowing said hinged parts to be swung 'down inwardly to permit said cross-conveyor to be swung up into said inoperative position.

5. `The elevator presented in claim 1 in which said inner cross-conveyor section includes casing side-walls longitudinal portions of which are hinged to the remainder thereof allowing said hinged parts to be swung down inwardly to permit said cross-conveyor to be swung up into said inoperative position. i.

6. 'Ihe elevator presented lin claim 1 in which one of said cross-conveyor sections has side-walls maining portions of saidl side-walls, in combination with means to rock said aring portions outwardly automatically when such cross-conveyor is swung up intol the stated inoperative position and toro'ck said flaring portions back to normal positions when said crosseconveyor is swung down into operative position.

f1. The elevator ser forth in claim 1 in which said cross-conveyor inner-sectionhas side-walls the top longitudinal portions of which are hinged to their lower portions to permit such top portions to be swung downwardly inwardly, said uprightconveyor lincluding a casing having a front normally outwardly-sloping .manually-shiftable portion which, when moved from its normal position, permits said upward swinging of said cross-conveyor to said aligned inoperative condition of its sections against the front of said casing,v said casing-portion when in normal position holding said hinged portions of said side-walls in operative position and against inward turning and 'when moved from said normal position freeing said hinged side-wall inward turning.

8. The elevator presented in claim 1 in which said cross-conveyorinner-section has side-walls the top longitudinal portions of which are hinged portions allowing their to their lower portionsto permit such top portions i to be swung downwardly inwardly, said uprightconveyor including a casing having a front normally outwardly-sloping manually-shiftable portion which, when moved from its normal position, permits said upward swinging of said cross-conveyor to said aligned inoperative condition of its sections against the front of said casing, said casing-portion when in normal position holding said hingedportioris of said side-walls in operative position and against inward turning and when moved from said'normal position freeing said hinged side-vsfallv portions allowing vtheir inward turning and in which said cross-conveyor 

